Friday 5 December 2008

Elfin safety..........

I have been much amused by the story of a winter wonderland Christmas theme park. In fact, when I read the press report online this morning, I laughed so hard I snorted tea out of my nose.

It was THAT funny.

The website for the attraction boasted amazing real snow effects, reindeer and huskies, an ice skating rink, fabulous nativity scene, bustling Christmas markets, an enchanting Santa's grotto and all manner of festive festivities.

Predictably, in these straightened times, the reality fell far short and after paying £25 each for entry, visitors found themselves up to their ankles in mud, queuing for hours to see a tawdry collection of tatty decorations and painted backdrops. Not quite the glorious Lapland experience they had been expecting.

As a result, tempers flared and a former security guard at the site reported that staff were subjected to violent outbursts by irate customers, including Santa being attacked and one of the elves being "smacked in the face and pushed into a pram".

I expect that post-traumatic stress counselling will be offered to the child who had to be comforted after arriving at Santa's grotto to find him puffing a cigarette outside.

Sadly the website has been withdrawn following the closure of the attraction, but you can get a fairly good idea of the story from the following press article

*"Furious parents attack Santa and his elves .............."*

You just couldn't make it up, could you? Priceless.

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